Symmetrical Hardships
by kyonkichi's kitten
Summary: Death the Kid and Maka Albarn have been blessed with a beautiful baby girl. At least, they think it's a blessing. Fourth in the Symmetrical saga, please read, review, and ENJOY! X T, once again for paranoia. : Family/Romance/Humor
1. Symmetrical Tears

**A/N: YO! I'm back! Ta da! Hope you all liked the end to Symmetrical Devotion, and welcome back to the Symmetrical Saga! I don't know where the inspiration came from for this. It kinda just hit me in the face like a door that I walked into on purpose. **

Maka sat, curled up in the fetal position on the floor of her and Kid's bedroom, sobbing incessantly, when Kid walked into the room.

"Maka?" The teen asked hurriedly, dropping the shopping bags on the floor, not noticing the items that spilled out for it as he raced over to be by her side.

"What's wrong, where is Kay?" He asked, picking her up and putting her on the bed. She only shook her head and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"She's okay, she's with Liz at the moment," said a voice from behind the couple. Kid whipped his head around to face Soul.

"What's happened? What did I miss? I was only gone for a few minutes!" the shinigami demanded.

"I don't know, but Kaya wouldn't stop crying, and Maka just sort of…" the white-haired teen paused, looking over at his meister.

"Broke down?" Kid finished for him, and he nodded. Maka, who had stopped sobbing, lay still, eyes still watering madly.

"Yeah. So Liz took over for a while. Kaya was just a bit tired and grizzly (**a/n: always wanted to use that word xD)**, but Maka was extremely tired and couldn't deal with it at the time."

"Taking a leaf out of Crona's book, huh?" Kid grinned for a moment, before turning back to his fiancée, and sitting down next to her on the bed. Soul took that as his cue to leave.

Maka lay still, and Kid pulled her head up to rest on his leg, stroking her hair gently. She was quiet for a moment, then spoke.

"I'm useless," she said, more tears spilling out of her green gem-like eyes. Kid shook his head.

"No, you aren't. You're a new mother, this happens sometimes," he said, and it was her turn to disagree.

"I'm useless, I'm going to be a horrible mama. She'll grow up hating me," Maka insisted. Kid pushed her gently off of his lap, stood up, and walked out of the room, allowing his feet to fall to the floor loudly as a sign of annoyance. She sat up, confused about where he was going, and her tears stopped. She stared at the door curiously for a few moments, before Kid re-entered, holding a tightly-wrapped bundle that Maka associated with her daughter.

She could only watch as he walked in, and placed Kaya down on Maka's lap. Her arms automatically reached out to stabilize her daughter, to stop her from falling, and she ended up cradling the baby to her chest.

She looked up to see Kid smiling at her gently, as if she'd just proven his point.

"See, even that simple, natural reaction shows that you aren't useless. And just look at her, she's happy to be with you, see?" It was true. The two-month old baby was already showing signs of recognition, her little green eyes mirroring Maka's as they gazed at each other.

Maka let out another, choking sob, and clutched the baby tighter to her chest. _Kid is right, as always_, she thought, as her little baby girl watched her mama's face with interest. _She does seem happy to be with me. But I was happy to be with Papa, and he ruined everything…_

She settled more comfortably on the bed, cuddling Kaya, and Kid sat next to her, smoothing out the baby's black locks that had stuck up at odd angles.

"She's growing quickly already," he murmured, and she nodded in agreement. Neither of them cared that she was only just about the size that a normal baby would be at birth. That would be compensated for later, as she would have a hard time catching illnesses later in life.

"Are you okay now?" Kid asked gently, and she nodded.

"Good, because I left Grandpa in the living room, he's waiting to see Kaya," he said, and Maka turned to face him, wide-eyed.

"YOU LEFT HIM DOWN THERE? Why didn't you say something? Oh, that seems so rude, I'll go and-" Maka was cut off as Kid grabbed her shoulder gently, pulling her back from where she had leapt to in her haste. Taking care not to knock Kaya out of her arms, he kissed her softly, conveying as much emotion as he could into that action.

"Thank you," she whispered quietly as they broke apart, and she handed Kaya to him, racing downstairs to offer some tea or coffee to his father.

He walked down the stairs at a much slower rate, making sure that Kaya was okay. She looked up at him happily, and, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he gently brushed some of her hair out of her face. She took the opportunity to latch onto the knuckle of his thumb, and he laughed.

"Hungry, huh?" he grinned at her, as he carried her into the living room.

"AH! There she is!"

Kid looked up as his father bounced over to them as quickly as possible, taking the tiny girl into the palm of his huge hand. Kid rolled his eyes.

"Hello to you too, father," he said sarcastically, and his father patted him on the head.

"Hiya, hello, Kiddo! Wassup?"

"Father, watch out-" He couldn't even get the words out before Maka took Kaya into her own hands. The teens exchanged a quick, humorous glance as Shinigami-sama appeared to deflate.

"She needs feeding, anyway," Kid said, sitting down in the middle of the sofa. His father took the seat opposite from him. They sat in awkward silence for a long time, only sharing minimal small talk. That was, until his father remembered.

"Oh, yeah, I brought something!" Shinigami-sama clapped his hands as he remembered. Kid sighed.

"Ta-da! An Easy-Bake oven for kids!" the shinigami produced a large box from out of nowhere. The teen rolled his eyes. His father expected Kaya to grow up really quickly, she was only two months old, not five. Last week it had been a trampoline, which had turned out to be great fun for Patti, Black*Star, and Arrow.

"Thank you, father. But you know she can't use that for another five years," he said. His father always seemed to enjoy ignoring important facts like that.

"Oh well, she'll grow up before you know it. You did."

Kid looked up at his fiancée and his tiny little daughter, seriously doubting that she would grow up so quickly.

He had no idea how fast she would grow.

**A/N: Yeahhh I know. Lame ending.  
>Also, for those of you who have read my other stories, andor sweetshearts' stories, you'll know about Princess Sparkles. **

**Princess Sparkles is a story book that all kids seem to love and all parents seem to hate. It's an extremely lame childrens' book invented by Sweetsheart and I. We will be writing the story of it shortly. And it will be seen in this story. Keep an eye out for it ;)**

**Love to all of my fans, especially those who review =]**

**xxEllie**


	2. Symmetrical Growth

**A/N: Ok, quick ramble before the new chapter. I apologize for my lack of updating recently, but as you all (should) know by now I'm fairly lazy, and with Christmas and New Years, plus work, it's been a bit tiring and hard to find energy to update.**

**I was *finally* motivated to update due to a review I received from ****RamenLuv24. ****Thanks for the review! But I don't know if I'd be able to make this story more than eight chapters o.O I'll try.. ^.^**

**Oh, and sweetsheart…. there's a nod to you in here. *Nods.*.**

**Disclaimer; I only own Death The Kid….'s plushie. WHICH IS SO KYOOOOOTE! But yeah, I own Arrow and Kaya, and the plot, nothing else.  
><strong>**  
>…. My Death The Kid plushie has a warning on it, saying, "Warning: CHOKING HAZARD-SMALL PARTS. Not for children under 15 years." <strong>  
><strong><br>Anyway. You've probably skipped over this anyway, so I'm gonna just get on with the story now. **

**Maka's Journal – KEEP OUT!**

_She's growing up. _

_Our little Kaya is six months old at the moment, and she's growing way too quickly. She's already able to say "Mama" and "Papa," much to mine, and Kid's, delight. She's also taken to saying "Ara" which we assume to mean Arrow. _

_I swear that dog has several different personalities._

_When Kid's around, the dog is well-trained, sitting and shaking on command. When Arrow is around Kaya, he's dead quiet and solemn, a fierce protector- or so Kid likes to think- and when he's around Patti, he's wild and rambunctious. _

_When he's around me he's just disobedient. He chewed on the tablecloth that I put out for laundry, and he pees on EVERYTHING. Between Arrow and Kaya, my Shamwow's been working overtime… I'm so glad Stein told me to get one. _

_Anyway, I'm meant to be writing about Kaya, not Arrow, or Stein, or Shamwows. _

_She's beautiful, really. Her black hair, with light grey traces on the left hand side of her head where her Lines of Sanzu will be, is always so shiny, in the way that I would have to wash my hair eight times to achieve. And her eyes- so much like mine! She's adorable, really. _

_Tsubaki-chan and Marie-sensei love coming over to visit. Well, all of my friends come over to visit, but Tsubaki and Marie are kind of obsessed with Kaya. Like, they visit once every day. _

_I told them not to, for today at least. Kid is home, and I want to spend some family-time with them. We're supposed to be planning for the wedding today, but I can't really be bothered. Oh, well… gotta go._

_~Maka_

Maka snapped her journal shut as Kid, whom she had heard approaching, entered the room holding the baby. The sound of the book closing abruptly made Kaya stir, and she looked over at her mother inquisitively.

Then she grinned.

Maka felt her heart melt at the sight of her smiling daughter, and she became an even bigger puddle of melted goo when the little girl stretched out her tiny hands and said, in the brightest voice, "Mama!"

Kid grinned at the sight of his fiancé, who he passed the baby to. She held one hand behind Kaya's head, the other supporting her around her bottom, and cuddled the tiny child.

"Maaam...Ara!" Kaya mumbled as her mother hugged her.

"Did she have a good nap?" Maka asked Kid, who nodded, grinning.

"Did you?"

"Uh, yeah," Maka said, even though she'd only slept for about ten minutes, and had spent the rest of her rest hour writing in her journal.

"Maaaaa…" Kaya added to the conversation, before turning and gnawing on the pull-cord of her mothers' hooded jacket.

"Kay, don't eat that, sweetie," Maka tried to pull the cord from her daughters' mouth. She succeded, and the green eyes stared up at her momentarily.

Then the baby burst into tears.

Kid and Maka were stunned, then sought about trying to stop her from her spontaneous wailing.

"Here, babe, here, you can chew on my pull cord~!" Maka offered the pull cord back to the baby, but she ignored it and continued crying.

"What about Papa's fingers," Kid said, "You usually like chewing on those!"

Kaya continued to sob.

"Kay, stop crying, please, I'm sorry, just don't cry!" Maka said desperately.

She'd heard, long ago, that a baby's cry could make their mother feel physically sick, as though there was some kind of connection between them. She'd scoffed at that before.

Now she didn't doubt it one bit.

Tears streamed down her own face as her daughter continued to cry incessantly. Nothing would work- she checked the baby's nappy, offered her food, offered her things to chew on, and Kaya ignored it all, still crying.

"I'm going to go and call my father," Kid muttered, racing out of the room.

Maka didn't even notice over the wailing.

Kaya had been a fairly quiet child, not staying up all night (with only a few exceptions) or crying too much, but when she did cry, they knew she meant it.

Kid walked into the bathroom, fogged the mirror over with his breath, wrote 42-42-564 on the glass, and muttered the phrase absentmindedly under his breath, before sitting and waiting for his father's mask to appear.

"Hiya, hello, Kiddo!" His over-exuberant father bounced up and down on the other side of the mirror.

"We- Maka and I- need your advice," Kid said quickly, not wanting to mince words.

"Help?" Shinigami-sama tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, it's Kaya. She won't stop crying, no matter what we do," Kid said, "We wanted to know if you knew why, and what we can do to stop it."

"Eh? My son, asking for advice raising his children? I never thought I'd see the day!" The Death God bounced up and down happily.

"Well, yeah, you raised me, didn't you? And I turned out just fine!" Kid smiled.

There was a beat of time, where Shinigami-sama gazed around the immaculately-arranged, symmetrical, bathroom, that the OCD boy had spent hours that very morning arranging.

"… yes, you did," Kid's father said carefully. "Well, it's likely that her teeth are coming through…"

"What? Teething? I thought that didn't start until another couple of months!" Kid cried.

"Well, it varies. Especially with Shinigami children. Why, you started walking at seven and a half months*! Gotta go, have fun!"

Kid remained still as the picture of his father faded from the bathroom mirror.

"If she learns to walk at seven months, I'll kill myself. At least make it eight," he muttered to himself.

"Did you figure it out?" Maka asked as he walked into the bedroom. He nodded, before going down to the cupboard for some crackers.

"Teething," he said as she followed him, carrying the crying baby.

"What? I thought that didn't happen for another few-"

"So did I. But she's a Shinigami, and those timelines were just guides anyway." Kid replied, putting one of the crackers near his daughters' face. She snatched it up immediately and began to chew on the corner of it.

Maka was silent for a moment.

"So all of those timelines in the books are probably wrong? She's going to grow up faster than other children?"

"Pretty much," Kid took Kaya and placed her in the high-chair that Shinigami-sama had bought for them.

Maka groaned, hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, and went to put up some of their child gates around doors and every precious item up on a high shelf.

**A/N-y stuff.**

***My brother actually did that. He was always the active one- I taught myself to read at the age of 3 instead. That's why I'm the reader/writer of the family ^.^**

**Having never had kids, I asked my mum what kind of things my brother and I did when we were babies. **

**Apparently I was a perfect little angel, and didn't touch anything (like ornaments or anything). I just ate and slept. Pretty much like now, actually, although I'm sure I couldn't write FanFiction at that age.**

**Apparently, my brother was a perfect little angel until the age of eighteen months, when my parents found out that they were going to have me. Then he began to destroy things and they had to put padlocks on his closet (he decorated his entire room with talcum powder once.)**

…**. Is it sad that Microsoft Word now Autocorrects "fanfiction" to "FanFiction"?**

**So, what did you think? Please let me know!**

**xx Ellie**


	3. Symmetrical Sitting

**Yeaaaaaah an update! Although it's been so hard lately to get any motivation to write anything… I'm constantly tired.**

**Seriously. What has it been? Two months? Three? Four?**

**I am so sorry to anyone who… is… actually… still reading my pathetic story.**

**I have any number of excuses to use as to why I haven't updated. One is that I recently got a job which takes up most of my spare time. Another is that I've just started my final year in high school, and I have to pass. Another is that I've started driving and need to drive for at least 75 hours before October. **

**Really and truly, I'm just a lazy sod. But so many people have asked me to update, and as much as it kills me to update while I'm not in the right frame of mind, I'll try my best. Sorry for any OOC-ness. **

**This chapter is dedicated to two-minute-noodles. Seriously, they are the real key to not dying during year 12. **

**Time skip; Kaya is now seven months old. Maka is seventeen-turning-eighteen, Kid is eighteen. Everyone else is around that. **

"Green," Maka snapped, irritated. Liz sighed and placed the magazine back on the table, and picked up another one that had a similar layout.

"Makaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," Tsubaki sighed. "Could you be a _little _more flexible?"

The blonde crossed her arms.

"I told you guys right off the bat that I wanted green bridesmaid dresses! To match my eyes!"

"Yes, but sweetie- "_Bright Emerald_" and "_Lime_" are practically the same colour!" Liz half screamed, half yelled, tossing the magazine on the table flippantly.

Her exclamation caused little Kaya to wake, her green eyes clouded from sleep and confusion at being woken up. Her pink mouth stretched open- whether to scream or yawn, Maka didn't know. She found out soon enough as the baby closed her mouth again, settling into her mothers' arms again.

The four girls _awwwed_ at the action that was so cute that it made them want to brush their teeth from all of the fluffiness. Maka, cradling her daughter while wearing a stupid grin on her face, was taken by surprise as Kid approached from behind and hugged her.

"Sorry to interrupt this… whatever this is, but I believe we have somewhere to be?" the young man asked. Tsubaki, Liz and Patti heaved simultaneous sighs of relief, which Maka mistook to be sadness.

"Oh, yeah, sorry girls. We'll have to sort this out another day. Kid and I are going out to celebrate my birthday, and Grandpa Shinigami will be looking after Kay." she explained, standing up and going to change Kaya's outfit into something warmer.

The girls sat in shock at her retreating form.

"YOU'RE LETTING HIM BABYSIT?" They shrieked simultaneously, after she'd disappeared. Kid clapped his hands over his ears to block the sound, to no avail.

"Calm down," he said, holding his hands out in a placating manner. "He's been asking if we'd give him more responsibility as a grandfather, and we wanted to go out. Maka and I are both worried, but we'll do anything for a night of peace."

"But-"

"It's okay, Spirit will be there to supervise." He said.

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

"I know," he replied, rubbing his now-sore ears, "That's why I've got Sid to supervise both of them."

"And who is going to supervise Sid?" Liz joked.

"Stein-sensei."

"And who-"

"Stein is being monitored closely by Marie-sensei, who is being supervised by Naigus, who is being supervised by Azusa. Kay will be _fine_," Kid explained, tired of this discussion.

"Well, I'm going to sleep over at Soul's tonight, and Patti's going on a playdate with Angela, so I guess that's okay…" Liz said. The others nodded as Maka came back into the room, pushing a pram containing Kay, who was wearing a little white top with a shinigami-skull on it. Everyone left the house at the same time, going their own separate ways.

After they dropped off their precious little girl, Maka crying the entire time, and Kid barely managing to contain a tear of his own, they headed out into the city to enjoy a night of eating, drinking, and dancing.

They reached the restaurant that they were going to eat at fairly quickly, and had to wait around for their table, regardless of Kid's status and the fact that they had booked. As they sat on the plush couches that lined the restaurant hallway, they couldn't stop fidgeting.

_Tap, tap, tap, tap,_ Kid's feet alternated as they tapped on the floor.

_Scratch, scratch, scratch,_ Maka's fingernails went against the couches' lining on the armrest.

After waiting for twenty minutes, they stared at each other in the eyes for the first time that evening. Each saw what they thought in the others' eyes.

Standing abruptly, and without speaking, they walked out of the restaurant, and began to run down the pathway that led towards Shibusen.

The mutual, unspoken need to see that their baby was safe hammered at the front of each of their minds, as they climbed the many stairs towards the academy. Once they reached it, they raced through the halls that led to the Death Room.

The room was quiet, as they approached through the guillotine walkway to find their precious daughter.

Standing upon the platform, looking disheveled, were a team of around seven or eight people, and one baby, who was bawling at the top of her lungs.

The tall, cloaked figures' mask was slightly off-centre, and wore a quizzical expression at the arrival of the two newcomers. Another tall man, with bright red hair, was seated on the floor, looking drained. A frazzled blonde woman stood next to a seated man with silvery hair, whose glasses were askew. A dark-skinned woman who was usually covered in bandages had begun to unravel, and her partner, who had blue skin, was passed out on the floor.

Only one woman remained completely calm. She stood proud, her black hair falling to just under her ears. In her arms sat Kaya, who was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Maka melted from her previous statue and ran for her baby, snatching her out of the arms of Azusa and cradling her towards her chest. Kid followed a second afterwards, and gently opened Kaya's mouth with his finger.

"As I thought. She's cutting a couple more teeth," he said to Maka, who nodded, her pallor fading. He raised an eyebrow at the "adults" in the room, before turning and leaving to take her baby home. Kid, she knew, would follow eventually. Once he got some of the annoyance out of his system.

"I would have thought at least one of you would be able to work this out? Naigus? You're a doctor!" he snapped, angry at the fact that his daughter had been crying- whether for five minutes or half an hour, it still bothered him.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "I assumed she was upset because she couldn't find you two."

"Hmph," Kid replied, turning to face his own father.

"Father, why didn't you contact me?"

"I wanted you to have fun, Kiddo!" The shinigami replied, his voice exhausted.

"Well, there goes THAT plan," Spirit smirked, and Kid rounded on him.

"What about you? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Spirit winced, and shrank back visibly, Stein sniggered.

"I'm sober, I swear it on my own two feet!" The red-headed man said.

"Anyone else have something to say?" Kid demanded, "Or can I just pass you all off as useless babysitters?

"Sorry, Kid, but I couldn't find any toys or anything."

"You can't find _anything_."

"Shut up, at least I didn't offer the baby a scalpel to play with!"

"~I have ten toes on my feet, I swear I'm sober on those as well~!"

"Marie, don't hit Stein, it's not his fault he's stupid."

"Get Spirit out of here, will you?"

"Yes. Sorry, Kid. Helpful is not the kind of man I was."

"My IQ is probably higher than anyone else's in this room, thank you very much! I just like dissecting things!"

"Hey!"

"Shinigami, you have NO right to talk, you tried to give the baby coffee!"

"Eh? It was tea!"

"ORDER!"

In the confusion, no-one noticed as Kid slipped out of the room, and headed to the store to buy a newspaper. It was time they started looking for a professional babysitter.

**There. Done. If you couldn't get the conversation, it went (speaking order)**

**Marie  
>Stein<br>Spirit  
>Naigus<br>Azusa  
>Sid<br>Stein  
>Shinigami<br>Marie  
>Shinigami<br>Azusa**

**So, what did you think? Pretty bad, since it was supposed to make up for a four-month-or-so-long accidental hiatus.  
>Sorry guys I really am.<strong>

**I will try to update every couple of weeks or so if I can, but as aforementioned, I am both extremely busy and lazy, so I'll see what I can do.**

**Thanks if you've stuck with me for this long,**

**Much love to all of my readers, Ellie-chan. **


	4. Torn Asymmetrically Asunder?

**So, the wait wasn't as long this time. Yay!**

**This chapter is dedicated to the Alphonse plushie I bought yesterday (wrong fandom, I know. Don't care :3) **

**Enjoy!**

"Kaya, please, stop crying," Kid muttered frantically under his breath, jiggling the eight-month-old in his arms, attempting to distract her.

She continued to sob.

"Come on, baby, you know Papa's useless at things like this," he said, in a fantastic attempt to console his crying daughter.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaa," she wailed, and he sighed again.

"I'm not waking up your mama, she's exhausted and she has to go to school tomorrow," he told her, his tone exasperated. His fiancée was determined to go back and finish her final year in high school.

"Kid?" Maka's voice came from behind him. He turned as she entered the room, Arrow silently padding along the floor beside her.

Kaya instantly stopped crying, and, instead, reached out her hands towards her Mama. Kid sighed, and handed his squirming daughter over.

"Sorry, I know you were trying to sleep," Kid said quickly, but she simply waved him away with a tired hand. Feeling useless and like an inadequate father, he slunk out of the room, and headed back to bed while his exhausted fiancé stayed up once again.

"Pa," Kaya mumbled, followed by a short giggle that had Kid suspicious instantly.

"Oh, no, Kaya, what did you do?" He asked the little girl, who giggled even harder, her small hands raising up to cover her eyes.

He stared at her for a little longer as she held the pose, before she cried out loudly and threw her arms away from her face.

"No, now isn't the time to play peek-a-boo," he told the chuckling toddler, "What have you done now?"

She smiled at him sweetly.

"Tell papa what you did," he requested.

She giggled and pointed with a tiny index finger in the general direction of the living room.

Sighing, Kid stood up, leaving the small, black-and white haired girl to her building blocks. He'd spend the better part of an hour pedantically placing the blocks in a symmetrical fortress structure. She'd been going in and out of the room, but as he knew that Patti and Liz were home, she would be okay.

It was important that he fixed the structure that he'd built before, that she'd knocked over.

He'd been dumped with the task of babysitting while his fiancé went out shopping for food, not that he minded overmuch- other than the fact that his charge was such a handful to look after.

He loved his daughter more than he'd loved anything else in his entire life. Even Maka- and he loved her an indescribable amount, but he loved the daughter that they made together more than life itself.

Unless she was attempting to annoy the crap out of him. Like now.

He entered the living room, noticing Liz, who sat upon the couch painting her nails a deep plum colour. He refrained from saying anything about the terrible, asymmetrical job she was doing, and instead glanced around the room.

The sound of wooden blocks tumbling to the marble flooring came from the next room, the playroom, but Kid ignored it, instead focusing upon the disaster area that was his living room.

The entire room had been torn asunder.

The painting that had once hung perfectly in the centre of the room now tilted to the side, the pot plant that had once stood tall and proud, exactly the same distance from the other one on opposite sides of the room, had been moved over to the left at least two inches, one- just one- of the four centrepiece candles had been allowed to burn until the wax was melted in a puddle at the base of the candlestick, and the rug was on the other side of the room.

Death the Kid released an inhumane roar, his bellow of rage echoing throughout the house. Maka chose that precise moment to announce that she was home, and their daughter conveniently began to wail as loudly as she possibly could.

"Kid? Kay?" Maka asked, coming into the living room. When she saw what had happened, she dropped the bags she was carrying and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"I know," Kid said, his tone irritated. "I couldn't believe that our daughter did this either."

She remained still for a few more seconds, before her shoulders began to shake.

"Maka?" Liz inquired from her place on the couch, where she surveyed the entire spectacle.

The teenager snickered. Kid turned to her, a wounded expression upon his face.

Maka couldn't help it- she burst out laughing.

"Oh, this is classic," she breathed between howls of laughter, "The child of Death the Kid hates symmetry!"

Kid, metaphorical tail between his legs, slunk over to the painting and began to right the symmetry of the room. Maka, still giggling to herself, went into the adjoining kitchen to put away the groceries. She was joined Liz, who was also amused at her meisters' predicament.

Kaya ceased her crying the second that Maka walked into the room, smiling up at her sweetly. Maka grinned back, and picked up her precious little girl.

"Good girl," she muttered into the toddlers' ear. "We'll break him from his OCD someday."

**A/N: Okay, I just want to say that KAYA DOES NOT HATE KID, and KID DOES NOT HATE KAYA. They just take a lot longer to become close, because despite being his daughter, Kaya has imprinted on her mother more, as she's always around (hence why she always stops crying when she's with her mother). That will begin to change, especially when Maka goes back to school.**


	5. Seal the Deal Symmetrically!

**Here it is (finally!) Ta-da!**

**This chapter… this one can go to my new puppy (ok, she's seven) Katie. Sooo cute ^_^**

**DISCLAIMER: Despite the fact that if I had my own story, I would still write Fanfiction for it, I DO NOT OWN SOUL EATER… **

"Hummmdumm de dumm!" A voice hummed in her ear; Maka woke up with a start, with no idea where she was.

"Wha- Kaya!" The young adult cried, sitting up in her bed as Kaya moved back to allow her to move.

"Happy wedding day, Mama!" The three-year-old said in a sing-song voice.

Ah. That was why the bed had felt so different- Kid had been forced to stay over at Black*Star and Tsubaki's place the night before.

Maka sighed, and scooped the little girl up, checking the time. Then she almost dropped the toddler.

She had five minutes to put something decent on before the girls arrived.

Luckily, the smart little girl had learned how to dress herself, as long as she wasn't given anything with buttons, and was already wearing the little black-and-white striped sundress that Kid had bought for her to match her hair.

Maka had barely slipped on a t-shirt and jeans before the door to her and Kid's new apartment was almost thrown off its hinges, by a short, blonde teen.

_So, let the dress-ups begin…_ Maka thought.

All in all, it was a very good wedding, Tsubaki mused to herself as she stood at the altar as the Maid of Honour. Liz and Patti stood next to her, the bridesmaids, with Marie-Sensei playing the role of Assistant Flower Girl. Essentially meaning that she had to make sure Kaya didn't eat the flowers as she walked down the aisle.

And of course, nobody could resist 'oooh'ing at the sight of the happy couple's daughter practically dragging Miss Marie down the aisle, wearing a soft green dress with an emerald sash across the middle. Especially as she was followed by a dog wearing a new, shiny black collar, carrying some white flowers in it's mouth. How they had gotten Arrow to behave, Tsubaki would never know.

Kid had chosen his own groomsmen- of course, Black*Star refused to be anything but the best man, and after a long talk with Soul about whether or not they hated each other anymore or not, the white-haired boy had landed a position as a groomsman. Kid had also asked Kilik to fill the position of the other groomsman, in order to even the numbers, with Pots of Fire and Thunder carrying the rings.

The bride had been absolutely stunning, her hair falling around her shoulders in slight waves, wearing a pure white dress that fell to the floor. Emerald accents highlighted the white, in her earrings and her bracelets.

And the perfect moment when the happy couple had sealed their marriage with a kiss? Yeah, she wouldn't deny that it brought a few tears to her eyes.

Yes, Tsubaki thought. It had gone well.

Until the reception, when it all went to absolute hell.

Little Kaya was asleep on one of the benches that they had set up under a white canopy, with tables of eight surrounding the dance floor. On the platform that had been set up as a stage, Spirit Albarn, proud father of the bride, was singing several alcohol-inspired love ballads, and was later accompanied by Stein, who, Tsubaki was sure, had had his drink spiked. More than one, in fact. Probably by Spirit. Marie, red-faced, had eventually gone to put a stop to that, and left to take Stein home. That didn't stop Shinigami-Sama from requesting an encore, which was, unfortunately, denied. He then sat in the corner to sulk for the rest of the reception, a lampshade over his head. Kid was sure that his father was quite intoxicated, too.

Maka and Kid had done a circuit of the room together, dancing, until Kid had realised that one of the tables was slightly off-centre and ran to rearrange the entire room. Maka had simply rolled her eyes, smiled a little- still caught up in the euphoria of the wedding- and then gathered up her still-at-the-time-conscious daughter in her arms and spun her around the room as well.

Black*Star and Tsubaki danced together too- although Black*Star had claimed it was simply out of a sense of 'duty', their group of friends would probably say that they were expecting a second wedding proposal anytime soon.

Soul and Liz had disappeared a _long_time ago to go and make out in a corner. Patti was off somewhere with Kilik-yes, that had been _quite_ the surprise for the group- and they had no idea where they had gone.

"Hey," A tired voice came from next to Tsubaki, breaking her chain of thought.

She turned around to see Kid, who was now cradling his daughter.

"Hey, yourself- you look exhausted," she supplied helpfully, taking the sleeping girl out of the young man's arms. Kid sighed gratefully.

"Definitely- I haven't seen Maka since she went to yell at her father for being an ass. Apparently he tried to make out with Azusa."

Tsubaki froze.

"WHAT?"

Then she clapped a hand over her mouth- trying not to wake up, or drop Kaya.

"Anyway, if you see her, can you tell her I'm ready to go when she is? I assume you're okay to take Kaya and Arrow?" That had already been arranged. Kid and Maka would go on their honeymoon to Oceania while Black*Star and Tsubaki baby-sat, with the help of Marie when it was needed, for the two weeks that they were going for.

"Yeah, I- There she is! MAKA!" Tsubaki called, and this time, Kaya _did _wake up. Maka came over to talk.

"Huuh-" the child stirred. "…Aunty 'Bakee?"

"Sorry, sweetheart. You wanna say buh-bye to Mama and Papa before they go away, and you come to stay with us?"

The little girl blinked and rubbed her eyes cutely.

"Buy-bye, Mama, buh-bye, Papa," She mumbled quietly, not fully comprehending what was happening.

"Awwww…" Maka said, tears touching at her eyes.

"I don't think I can leave…" Kid said softly, staring at his daughter.

"Go!" Tsubaki commanding them, with a laugh. They looked at their child hesitantly, before eventually, Black*Star managed to push them out of the door to their limousine, as they called farewells over their shoulders.

It would be a hard two weeks for all parties concerned.

**A/N; Yeah, it's short, but I wanted to write the next chapter and then realised that I hadn't written this one! Soooooo…. expect another chapter within a couple of days. If not… I will shoot myself. Okay. Hope you enjoyed it! And, of courrrrrse, a huge THANKYOU to all of my awesome reviewers ^-^**

**Time-skip again in the next chapter, she'll be four next! o.O That'll be exciting! **

**Until the next time (hopefully soon)**

**Ellie xx**


	6. Symmetrical Schooling

Maka stood, gazing at Shibusen, searching frantically through the hoard of people exiting the great doors. She couldn't quite se-

"There she is!" Kid murmured from next to her, jumping off of the wall that they had been perched upon.

She barely had time to note what he said before he was off like a shot, racing towards the little girl with the little ponytail, and a single clip in the side of her black and white hair.

"Kaya!" Kid called as he went, Maka hot on his heels, running like the teenagers they barely weren't anymore.

"Kid, slow down!" Maka cried, but it went ignored- Kid skidded to a halt in front of his daughter, scooping her up in his arms and hoisting her onto his shoulders as she let out a cry of excitement.

"Hi, Papa!" She cried, hugging him tightly around his neck. Maka, by that time, had caught up to them.

"Hiya, Kaya!" She rhymed, as was her new custom. (**a/n: yes, that's how it's pronounced :P :D) **

"Hiya, Mama," the four-year-old replied, her eyes already drooping as the little family turned to walk to their apartment.

"So, how was your first day at preschool?" Kid asked over his shoulder. She shrugged.

"Come on, didn't you do anything new?" Maka pressed, poking the little girl in the ribs. Kaya giggled and squirmed, but a serious expression fell over her face as she spoke.

"Mama… why am I smarter than everyone else there?"

Both of the young adults were shocked by the question and by the way that it was posed. She didn't sound condescending- merely inquisitive.

"Well," Kid began.

"Um.." Maka said. Both of them were at a loss for words.

"I mean, even the teacher was trying to tell me that Pi was 3.142856147, not 3.14159265. I get that twenty-two over seven is 3.142, but Pi isn't exactly twenty two over seven. She wouldn't listen to me."

Maka and Kid stared at each other, taken aback. This little girl- their daughter- was a genius for her age.

"Hardly surprising," Kid muttered, sharing Maka's thoughts. "She's got Shinigami blood, and her mother was the same, so she should be."

"Mama," the girl said sleepily from her father's back. "Do I have to go there again?"

Maka considered this for a moment.

"Well, you do need to make some friends, sweetie-" Kid started, but Kaya shook her head.

"I don't want to make new friends! I like the ones I have!" She claimed. "Why can't I stay friends with Auntie Patti and Auntie Liz and Auntie Tsubaki and Uncle Soul and Uncle Black Star and Arrow?"

"You can, Kay, but you need to make some friends your own age that you can talk to-"

"But mamaaaaaaaa! I can't talk to them! They're all playing in the sandpit and building with blocks and that's dumb!" The four-year-old cried.

Maka sighed, looking at her child. Then she looked up at her husband.

"I'll talk to your papa about it later on tonight," she told the little girl, as she turned the key to their apartment.

_/heeeeey guyyyyys it's another line break :D/ _

Maka and Kid lay together under the quilt covers, Maka lying over Kid's chest, the young man winding his fingers through her locks of hair.

"What do you think?" Maka asked suddenly, startling him.

"Sex!" He blurted, saying the first thing on his mind. They hadn't been active much lately, Maka's stress about her university course and Kid's stress about working at Shibusen was weighing them down, and she was laying on him, wearing a little white nightgown.

Maka paused for a moment, blushing heavily, before resuming the 'conversation'. "I meant about Kaya and preschool. What do you think we should do?"

"Oh," Kid mumbled, pink staining his usually-pale cheeks. "Well, she obviously needs to be at school on an intellectual level, but relationship-wise…"

"She's four, Kid. You're talking about putting her in a class of six-or-seven year olds."

"Well, I was actually thinking eleven to twelve year olds, as that's where her skills are."

"No way!" Maka cried, hitting him with a pillow.

"Sorry, just pointing out the facts. She's four, I wouldn't do that to her. We could put her in first or second grade if it was allowed."

"But would she be challenged to develop? And would she make friends if she's that much younger than them?" Maka argued.

"It's probably the best thing we could do… unless we class 'school' as a simply social activity and hire a teacher, or teach her ourselves." Kid mused.

"… That could work. If she agreed…" Maka thought. Happy to have reached a possible conclusion, Kid closed his eyes- then they shot open as Maka grabbed a fistful of his nightshirt.

"I believe you mentioned something about sex?" The girl asked.

Kid grinned and leaned over her, gently kissing her on the lips, the touch lingering as he pulled away. She scowled, pushing herself up to kiss him back more passionately.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Mama, Papa!"

Kid groaned as Maka got up, going to the door and pulling it open to reveal Kaya.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" The young adult asked curiously. Kid plunked his head on the pillow.

"I would ask that you and Papa refrain from engaging in coitus while I am present in the apartment," Kaya said, before turning and heading back into her bedroom.

Maka shut the door, and then slammed her head against it.

"Can't I catch a break?" Kid mumbled.

"Looks like Kaya's going on a spontaneous trip to Aunt Tsubaki's and Uncle Black*Star's tomorrow night," Maka commented as she went to the bed, crawled next to Kid, and fell asleep.

**A/N: Yeah. I'm late. **

**But I like this chapter a lot better than the last few, it's a lot more in my original style. ^-^ Hope you like it as much as I did!**

**Xx Ellie**


	7. Symmetrical Secrets

**Yeah. Busy year- I'm in the last year of high school, and I've been given a whole load of assignments to keep me busy. **

**Free time? What free time? **

**Just give me a minute to remember the characters names, the setting, their ages, and what I'm actually doing. **

**I'm hoping that quantity and quality will make up for the poor updating habits with this story. **

**Enjoy! :D**

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamaa? Papaaaaaaaaaa!" Kaya called through the apartment, dropping her backpack down on the floor. She didn't pause to take off her shoes, running down the hallway in order to see her mother.

"Take your shoes off," Kid's voice responded, and the eight-year-old halted, ripping off her shoes as she went. Arrow sauntered up to her, stopping to sniff at the shoes before padding away to lie back down.

She entered the kitchen, where her father stood, several ceramic shards surrounding him as he looked through the cupboard.

"Papa, did you drop another set?" Kaya asked, with a small sigh.

"Yeah… do you know where the spare set went? I know your mother bought another one for when this happened…"

"In the cupboard next to it, towards the back on the bottom shelf, to the left," she informed him as she stepped over the shrapnel littering the floor and headed towards her bedroom.

"Is Mama not here?" She called over her shoulder as she threw her socks into the washing basket, and pulled her hair out of its ponytail.

"Uh, no, she went to see your grandfather, he had something he wanted to tell her, I don't know what about, but that was a few hours ago," Kid replied, as he went into the laundry to grab the broom to clean up the eight broken plates.

"Oh," Kaya sighed again, grabbing her favourite outfit to change into- the off-the-shoulder black and white top, with the blue jeans that her mother hated but she loved, accompanied by a pair of black boots. "Grandpa Spirit or Grandpa Shi?"

"Shi," she heard the ceramic chink as it was deposited into the metal rubbish bin.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go and see them," the short girl replied, brushing her hair quickly, flicking the fringe over to one side. Kid scowled at this.

"Be careful," he told his daughter, as was his custom. She nodded. The streets of Shibusen were well-known for being safe during the day, and the Shinigami child was allowed the freedom to walk to places that she knew by herself.

Kaya headed up the stairs to Shibusen, passing her elementary school and Deathbucks on the way. Turning her walk into a sprint, she arrived at the high-school doors, huffing and panting. Nevertheless, she pushed on until she reached the door to her grandfather's current residence.

Ignoring the knocker, she entered the room and walked towards the white platform, where stood the proud Shinigami, a mandolin in one of his hands.

"Hiya, hello, Kay!" The massive black shape greeted her. "My, haven't you gotten big since I last saw you- what year are you in at school? Four?"

"Seven, Grandfather. I skipped a few," the nine-year-old replied. He nodded, and there was a short, slightly awkward silence between the two of them.

He gestured at the mandolin. "Would you like to hear a song?"

"No. Do you know where my mother is, Grandfather?" Kaya dismissed his offer.

"Er, well, yes. But she asked me not to tell anyone, so-" Shinigami-sama began, but he was cut off by the most adorable pair of emerald eyes, staring at him with such pitiful hope that he had to reassess his response.

"I sent her on a mission," he supplied. She stared at his white mask. Her mother had gone on a mission? But she hadn't said so…

"Where to, Grandfather?"

"I really can't-"

"Where?" The stubborn child demanded to know.

"We found information regarding the location of her mother, and that she's been injured in an attack from pre-Kishin. She's gone to find her," the death god admitted, ashamed at the way that he could be manipulated by a nine-year-old.

"Grandmother..?" Kaya murmured to herself. Of course- the only reason that her mother would leave without saying goodbye.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" she asked quietly, a little irritated and upset.

"No, I don't, I'm sorry." Shinigami-sama replied, his head bowed. "But if you're going home, could you please give this to Kid?"

Kaya took the offered envelope, and, without another word, stormed out of the room to process the new information.

Stopping on the side of the road, she carefully peeled open the envelope to read the contents.

_**Kid, **_ - Kaya gasped, it was from her mother!

_**I'm leaving. Well, not you, obviously, but I was given information from your father about my mother and where she is. I wanted to tell you properly, but I was a little worried that you would try to make me stay. And I have to do this- find out where my mother is, and bring her home. **_

_**Shinigami-sama is making me take Papa and Stein with me. I don't know why, but I've accepted… speaking of 'papa', I have some news for you that I wanted to tell you in person but I couldn't because I had to leave so quickly. I only have twenty minutes to write this as it is… **_

_**I'm not entirely sure, because I haven't checked with a doctor, but I might be pregnant again. I know how impersonal it is to write this to you, but I couldn't tell you any other way. That's also why Papa and Stein are coming with me- if it comes to any fighting, they can take care of it. I just have this feeling- a niggling sensation, like how I felt when I took my first pregnancy test. It just won't leave me alone. **_

_**Anyway, I only have two minutes left, apparently. I love you and Kaya so much, and I'm going to miss you while I'm away. Make sure Kaya has clean clothes every day and that she gets to school on time. **_

_**I love you, **_

_**Maka xox**_

Kaya's eyes swam as she read that her mother could be pregnant- she could have a little brother or sister soon! But her expression darkened again as she realised that there was no definite answer as to when her mother would be back.

Storming home, after sealing the note back into the envelope, she unlocked the door with her spare key and threw the letter on the kitchen countertop.

"Hiya, Kaya," her papa greeted as she kicked her shoes off, he was sitting in the lounge room reading some reports of pre-kishin attacks in the towns around Nevada. His job entailed mostly that- employing Shibusen students to exterminate the vicious attackers.

"Hi, father. I'm going to bed," she told him, before going into her room and slamming the door.

Kid looked at the clock, surprised.

"It's only six o'clock," he called after her retreating back, sighing when there was no response. Standing to go and get a light meal for dinner, he noticed the letter that had been carelessly thrown upon the bench, addressed to him. Frowning slightly, he opened it and began to read.

_/Whoa, guess who's back with the irritating line breaks! Miss me? 3/_

"I want in," the little girl, only three feet and five inches tall, demanded.

The shinigami looked up, surprised.

"Pardon?"

"I want in," Kaya repeated herself.

"What do you mean, 'you want in'?" Shinigami-sama asked, still confused.

"I want to start at Shibusen. As a meister."

The death god, who had seen many things in his life, had to admit that this was a strange addition to the list. A nine-year-old girl, as tall as an average six-year old, with three snowy stripes adorning the left side of her head, piercing emerald eyes, and the determination of a toddler asking for lollies- wanting to join a high school for weapons and their wielders? Yes, that was an oddity* indeed.

"I'm listening," he told the girl, which was all she needed to launch her offense.

"I'm smart enough to be in with the bigger kids, I just need to find a weapon, right? And then I can be like Mama, and like her mama, and they'll be able to see how grown-up I am when they get back. I'm not little, and my school work is too easy for me."

He hesitated- he had to plan this carefully.

"Let me call your father," was the death god's response, and he did so using the mirror behind him. Kid answered immediately, surprised to see Kaya there instead of at school, where she should have been.

"Yes, Father?" He asked, his gaze flicking between his father and his daughter, confusion evident on his face.

Shinigami-sama gave him instructions to get there quickly, before turning the mirror 'off' and turning to wait in silence. Barely a minute later, his son knocked on the door- he must have used his magical skateboard to arrive so quickly, the Shinigami noticed.

"You rang..?" The unasked question hung in the air as the tall, golden-eyed man strode into the room and onto the platform.

"Yes, yes, I did. Kaya here came to ask me about her possibly joining Shibusen a little early."

"A little early?" Kid frowned. He glanced at his daughter. "How early?"

"Well, I think she meant tomorrow, but I was willing to give it a week or two." Shinigami-sama told his son calmly, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

3… 2… 1…

"WHAT? You can't possibly mean- you're actually considering this?" Kid demanded to know, as Kaya grinned, happy that someone finally understood.

"Well, I don't see why not," the death god replied.

"Why not? There are tons of reasons why not!"

"Really? Because it seems to me that this highly intelligent, mature and pleasant young granddaughter of mine is ready to begin her further education." His father said levelly.

"But she needs a social life, too! She needs to talk to people her own age-"

"Like you did?" Kid was cut short. His father had a point- Kid didn't even have friends until he found the Thompson sisters in an alleyway in Brooklyn.

"What will Maka say?" The younger man said, knowing his case was already lost.

"Mama will be proud of me," Kaya said, sure of herself. Kid sighed.

"We're both proud of you, love, but I don't know.."

"Pleeeeeeeeease?" She asked, turning the dreaded green puppy-dog eyes onto him. He hesitated.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Shinigami-sama echoed, and Kid felt like the bad guy all of a sudden.

"…Fine. But I don't want her going on any missions until she's thirteen and she's got a trustworthy, symmetrical partner," he declared, but the last half of his sentence was cancelled out as Kaya whooped, and jumped on him to embrace him tightly.

"Yay! Thank you, Papa… I just need to find a good weapon, and then I'm all set!" The girl cried gleefully.

Kid sighed again, defeated, as she ran out of the door, a new quest in mind.

"Thank you, I guess, for accepting her," Kid said to his father, facing him. The tone of his voice did not go unnoticed by the shinigami, who smiled beneath his mask. He leaned forward to clap a massive hand on his son's shoulder.

"I told you, they grow up way too quickly," he reminded him, and his son nodded, before leaving the room through the guillotine pathway.

**And finally, what the story has been missing for the past six chapters- PLOT PROGRESSION!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was five pages long and took me half of one Society and Culture class, plus one hour of my "free" time. **

**Please review, especially now that has made it so much easier- you don't even have to click on a new link!**

**Xx Ellie**


	8. Symmetrical Pride

**Well crap. Year 12 has pretty much destroyed my life.  
>If anyone who is reading this is South Australian, and in year 11, please, please please heed my advice.<br>DO NOT TAKE ENGLISH STUDIES.  
>Okay, so here we are with the final chapter of Symmetrical Hardships! Thank you once again to all of my lovely R&amp;R'ers, hope you enjoy this story more than I enjoy writing it! :D <strong>

"Hmpf," the young girl sighed, flicking her fringe over to one side of her forehead.

"Just "Hmpf,", Kaya? Seriously?" Kid groaned, closing down the internet tab he had previously been showing his daughter, and opening a new one. "How about this girl?"

"Mmm-hmm," she replied, resting her chin on her palms, slouching over the table.

"Kay, we need to find you a weapon sooner or later," he told her, grimacing as he opened yet another tab, closing it down quickly.

"Yes, but on a dating site? Really?"

"It's not a _dating site! _It's Shibi-Kid's Meister-Matching site. You go on here and fill out the requirements, and you can get in contact with them. It's brilliant."

"Can't I just meet someone at Shibusen, like a normal person?" Kaya muttered. She rolled her eyes as her father began to smirk. She was far from 'normal.'

"Yeah, but this is worldwide, so there could be a better match, and we could get them to come to Shibusen to learn with you. I think it's fantastic." Her father said so, matter-of-factly.

"Yes, well, you would- you made the damn thing." She rolled her eyes for the second time.

"Don't shake something loose," Kid warned. He turned back to the computer, and opened yet another tab to show her his next candidate.

"What are you searching for, anyway?" She asked.

"I weapon, I told yo-"

"No," the girl interrupted. "I want to know what you put as prerequisites." She looked up to the screen, where he was back onto the search-page. He continued scrolling through the options.

"FATHER!" she cried, standing up abruptly and slamming her fists onto the table. "Why the hell does this site even have a "Symmetrical" option?! And you're only looking at females!"

"I made the website, of course it has a 'Symmetrical' category."

"I can't believe you!" Kaya yelled.

"I-" he began, but she cut him off.

"You're cutting out half of the population, that's not fair! And maybe I don't want someone 'symmetrical!' Maybe I want an asymmetrical, male partner!" She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her as her father fainted out of pure shock at her statement.

_/would you look at that, it's time for a line break already! Woooo __/_

Kaya raced out of the house before her father could wake up, meaning that she had to be up at some unshinagami-ly hour in order to leave before 8am. With her hair swept up in an uneven bun, fringe parted at the side again, and wearing her favourite single-strapped black top and jeans, she was at her best, and ready to make new friends.

Of course, starting halfway through the school year didn't make it easier for her. However, there was a small group on exchange from the Oceanian region that she would be able to hang out with for a couple of weeks until they left, before she would have to make friends with the real E.A.T class and find herself a weapon.

_That means Auntie Marie will be back for a little while. She left to go back at the start of term, she must be back with the exchange class._

Taking the stairs two steps at a time- big strides for a little girl- she arrived at the top out-of breath and sweating. Her satchel bag weighed a ton, and she slung it over her head, leaving it to rest across her body without having to carry it on only one side. Luckily, the only audience for her pathetic appearance was her Grandpa- Shinigami himself.

"Hi, Grandpa Shi," she greeted, bending over to rest her hands on her knees and catch her breath.

"It's Shinigami-Sama while at school, Ms. Death," He reminded her strictly, but not unkindly.

"S-sure, Shinigami-Sama, sir," she breathed.

"Where's your papa? I was sure my son would be running up the stairs, trying not to let go of your hand." The huge Shinigami laughed. Kaya joined in, her laughter coming in short huffs.

"Nah, I let him sleep in." She informed him. He looked at her quizzically, but said no more.

"Right. Well, this way, Ms. Death, the E.A.T class is just assembling for homeroom and then you'll be starting with Biology."

Kaya groaned even as she followed her grandfather. Uncle Stein was renowned for his disgusting and awful Biology lessons. Nevertheless, she followed, entering a huge classroom with many wooden rows ascending towards the back of the classroom, a few of the seats occupied by various weapons and meisters. Left to choose one, she chose to sit right at the back, where she figured no-one would want to sit, therefore she wouldn't steal anyone's predetermined chair.

That plan worked for all of five minutes, until the rest of the class barreled through the double-doors.

"Ey. That kiddo's in my seat!" A red-haired boy shouted, to the glee of his friends. He ran up the stairs to face Kaya, and glared at her.

"Ey, what's wrong, Chibi? Did you get lost on the way to the playroom?" His comment was met by snorts of laughter from the three boys that followed him. He leaned over, staring the nine-year-old down.

"Did you get lost on the way to the junk-yard? You look trashed," she retorted quickly, then wishing she hadn't risen to the bait.

"Ooh, look, Chibi-kins thinks she can outwit me." The boy said, laughing to his friends.

"Chibi-kins knows she can, and asks that you politely back off," Kaya growled in undertone.

"Oh! Would you like me to back off?" The boy asked, feigning surprise. "No, bitch. Get out of my seat or I'll slap you one."

"You'll sink as low as hitting a girl four years younger and eight years smarter than you?" Kaya rolled her eyes, standing up. "Didn't realize anyone could be so pathetic about a seat. I'll go sit down the front with the more intelligent students, shall I?" She didn't wait for a response, launching herself over the row of desks and down two more, not bothering to use the stairs, manipulating her way past the other bewildered students to plonk herself down in an empty row.

She glanced up to see that Uncle Stein had been there, and watched the entire scenario unfolding without intervening. Part of her was shocked that a teacher could ignore such a scene, but another, larger part of her was grateful. She was nine- she could fight her own battles. She barely noticed when a brunette girl wearing glasses sat beside her- one of the Oceanian girls, no doubt. Instead, she opened her black notebook, grabbed a pen, and waited for Biology to begin.

_/well yeah that guy's a dick./_

"Hey! Hey, Chibi-kins! Wait up!" The grating voice called from behind her as she began the walk down the staircase towards her apartment.

The mix of the Japanese and English derogatory terms made her clench her teeth, but nevertheless, Kaya turned to face the red-haired boy.

"What?" She questioned, pretending that he hadn't just walked up and gotten right in her face.

"You gon' apologise?" He demanded.

"What for? Sitting in an empty seat? Or lowering my standards enough to talk to a low-life such as yourself?" Kaya quipped.

There was no warning, only blinding pain that erupted from the right side of her face, just below her emerald eye, as his fist came up and struck her. Rolling with the force of the punch, she allowed herself to fall back, swinging her legs around to knock his knees out from under him.

It would have been a perfect, crippling blow if they had been evenly-matched. However, the thirteen-year-old boy had a staggering advantage over the nine-year-old girl. He noticed this with a sadistic grin.

"What is it with people getting bashed up at this school," Kaya muttered to herself, as the boy landed an overhead shot on the top of her cranium. Stars flittered their way across her field of vision. She'd read in her mother's journals that she personally had almost been eradicated in a Shibusen-set fight between her mother and a psychopathic bitch named Jacqueline.

The boy kicked her in the side and she began to roll, tumbling down the stairs, attempting to brace herself with her arms but failing to do so. He gave chase, attempting to land more kicks as he followed the falling child.

She eventually reached a platform that was wide enough for her to stop rolling, and stopped, splayed out flat on the concrete, only the thought to get away running through her head. Unfortunately for her, a niggling sensation at the back of her head struck up a beat, one calling for her to fight back, to stand up and not back down. Struggling, she made it to her knees before she was winded again, this time by a fist to her chest.

"Giving up yet, Chibi-kins? Learning your place in this world yet?" The boy half-snarled, half-laughed. From where she lay, she looked up into his eyes and saw nothing but fury there. She couldn't help it- she grinned, and pushed herself up to a -sitting position. He struck again, hitting the flat of his fist to the back of her head as a voice rang out from the top of the stairs.

A chord struck.

Leaping to her feet, Kaya spun herself around, finally provoked into taking action. Ignoring the bruises that she knew must have littered her body, she swung her fist around in an arc towards her attacker.

Her blow landed, holding firm before the obstruction stopping her fist from progressing vanished completely, and she fell forwards with the power of her own strike.

Then she stopped and stared as the adrenaline left her, finally processing the gradual crescendo of yells coming from the top of the staircase, and the screams of the boy who attacked her.

The boy was bleeding- no.

_The boy was missing his left hand._

White with shock, she took a few minute steps back, forgetting where she was and falling back down the stairs. This time, however, she was caught, and she stared up into the blood-red eyes of the person who broke her fall.

"Uncle Soul?!" She gasped.

"Kaya, it's okay now, I've got you, you can change back now," he was saying. Or so she read on his lips- the ringing in her ears was nearly deafening.

"I saw you being attacked from the top of the stairs, I came as quickly as I could. It's okay, the boy's going to get into trouble, you can change back. It's okay," the albino informed her quickly.

"Change back?" She mumbled around her tongue, which had swollen from where she'd bitten it during one of her falls.

"Yes," he said, his tone urgent. "Then we'll get you hom-"

"KAYA!" An even louder voice shouted her name, she winced. That was her father, no doubt running up the stairs to where she sat, being carefully supported by the man she knew as Uncle.

"Papa..?" She inquired, reverting back to the childish version of his name. She was scooped out of Soul's grip, Kid nodding to his wife's former partner by way of silently thanking him. The gesture did not go unnoticed, and Soul smiled.

"Oh my-" Kid began as he saw the damage done to his precious daughter- until he saw her right forearm.

"-GOD, KAYA?! WHAT THE HELL?!" He shouted, Kaya wincing again at the proximity of the loud noise.

"Sorry, Kay, but just- when did this happen? Why didn't you tell us?!" The male Shinigami asked, holding up the arm to inspect it closely.

It was only then that Kaya realised what had happened, and suddenly, everything fell into place.

He wasn't just holding her arm.

He was holding a blade.

_/DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU N. o.O/_

Kaya dried herself off after her soak in the bathtub, carefully rubbing over the bruises, but not once complaining or crying. Slipping into her pyjamas, she padded barefoot out into the living room, where sat her father and her grandfather, each nursing a cup of tea.

"Hello, Grandfather," she greeted the newcomer, sitting down to her own mug of the caffeinated beverage.

"Hello again, Kaya. I expect you're wondering what happened to Daniel?"

"Who's Daniel?" Kaya asked, taking a sip of tea.

"The red-haired boy, the one who attacked you."

"Oh." It hadn't really occurred to Kaya that she didn't know the boy's name. "Yeah, I guess so."

"He'll be facing fines and will probably be charged with assault, even though he's only a minor. And, of course, he'll be removed from Shibusen. While we tolerate supervised fighting, unfair bullying is unacceptable."

"That's hardly punishment at all!" Kid cried, wrapping an arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"Father, it's fine." Kaya said flatly, gulping down some more tea. She noticed it had a slightly distinct flavor- lemon? Maybe lime? Some kind of citrus.

"Well, we figured he'd already been punished enough," The Shinigami said evasively.

"What?" Kid asked.

"…Kaya sort-of cut his hand off."

The silence was deafening in Kaya's ears.

"Now. Usually, there would be some kind of repercussion for Kaya, but given the circumstances… well, the staff agrees with me that it's sort of deserved. That's what you get for picking on a girl half your size, you know?" Her grandfather smiled, before draining his tea.

"I'd best be off. We can't exactly put that in the paperwork for the incident report, and I have yet more work to do." Dropping a hand on his son's head and a kiss on his granddaughter's, he left. Kaya made to depart for her room, but her father's hand extended to catch her wrist gently.

"I'm proud of you, Kay, for holding your own. Shibusen needs students like that. Mama would be proud too if she'd known." He told her quietly. She nodded, and kissed him on the cheek before resuming her path down to her bedroom.

He watched her go, filled with a surge of pride at his daughter's strength.

"Neh, Father," She turned around as she reached the doorway.

"Yes?"

"Well… I was just wondering…" Kaya dragged the sentence out. "Are Auntie Marie and Uncle Stein doing sex to each other?"

Kid spat out the dregs of his tea, choking on the substance. The response was enough for the young girl, and she turned away again, bearing a smirk.

"Where did you-"

"I didn't. I guessed from Mama's old journal, she wrote about two teachers and I guessed it was them. Seeing them both teaching together… and seeing their souls… it sort of clicked."

"I…. I-"

"Good night, Papa," She called, retreating into the bedroom and shutting the door.

Locating her mother's journal, she turned to about half-way through the book, where Maka had finished writing. Kaya had taken to writing her own experiences in the book, as a continuation of the family's story.

Jotting down a few lines about her first day at Shibusen, the boy, and the fight, she searched the archives of her mind for a couple of sentences to sum up her feelings about her most recent discovery.

_I need no weapon nor meister. I can be myself with no-one to change or affect me. Alone, like most Shinigami. And strong, like them too. The boy hit hard but I hit harder still. _

_I'm going to wear the bruises of my first fight. I'll not go to Naigus for help. I'm wearing these injuries with pride, but also as a reminder not to let my wit exaggerate my abilities. Keeping my mind sharp as a tack, yet remaining as careful as a doe- that's a hardship I'm going to have to bear if I'm going to become the Shinigami after my father. _

The nine-year-old sighed as she closed her book and laid her pen on the table beside it, flicking the light switch off and crawling into bed.

In the next room, Kid lay on the sofa, re-reading his latest letter from Maka. The general "Hello from far away, I'm fine, I saw this, No luck so far" was practically ignored as he scanned through for his favourite part of the letter- where she said the bump was showing, that she was definitely pregnant, and that she'd be home soon.

Grinning to himself, he placed the letter by his side, thinking of his precious wife. Undoubtedly, they would be facing more hardships along the way, but they were beginning to develop what each craved- a family.

**Well! Hopefully that chapter was long enough for you guys! 2,800 words! Wow, I'm on fire for once. And considering that only took me from 7.05-9.15, that's pretty cool. **

**Once again, thanking loyal readers and greetings to all newcomers! **

**THERE WILL BE AT LEAST ONE MORE STORY IN THIS SAGA. I will be attempting to have the first chapter up within five weeks. I know that is a hell of a long time, but unfortunately, my Year 12 exams are very important and they take preference. (Hell, they affect the rest of my life!) I'll be back to (hopefully) regular updates around the end of November**

**However.  
>As a celebration for my second birthday, I'll be posting more fanfictions in November and December, and I will be taking requests at the end of November for one-shot fanfictions (2000-5000 words) within a group of fandoms and pairings (any that I'm not averse to.) . I won't be taking requests for a month or so yet, but I'm letting you guys know early, because you're awesome and you've read my Saga. <strong>

**Please, please, pretty please drop in a review (they've made it super-easy now!) and let me know what you think about the story, the characters, the saga- anything! Feedback is awesome.**

'**Til the next installment of the Symmetrical Saga, **

**~Ellie xx**


End file.
